Decorative lighting apparatus



Oct. 1, 1940. M, WETZEL 2,216,260

DECORATIVE LIGHTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 18, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 1,1940. M.WE1 'ZEL 2,216,260

DECORATIVE LIGHTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 18, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 1, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

My invention relates generally to decorative lighting apparatus, and more particularly to improved apparatus of this character in which distorted filament images are projected upon light reflecting or translucent surfaces to produce decorative lighting displays. It is contemplated that the filamentary images shall be projected by the apparatus through one or more preferably moving variegated color filters and that the filamentary images of the light sources shall have motion imparted to them so as to produce a continuously varying, substantially non-repeating colored light pattern upon the light reflecting or translucent surface, which in effect, forms a screen.

It is thus an object of my invention to provide an improved means for producing decorative illuminating effects which present interesting, novel, and marvelously beautiful moving color patterns upon a light reflecting or translucent screen.

A further object is to provide an improved apparatus of the above mentioned type in which filamentary light sources are employed and in which the light from such sources is reflected by means of distorting reflecting surfaces upon a suitable screen.

A further object is to provide an improved apparatus of the above described type in which 3 light from a filamentary source is directed against a plurality of generally concave reflecting surfaces which are moved preferably at different speeds so as to project relatively moving images of the same filament upon a screen. 35 A further object is to provide an improved apparatus of the above described type in which movable multi-color filters are interposed in the paths of the light so as to vary the colors of the filament images which are projected upon the screen.

Other objects will appear from the following description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refreshment counter or bar showing the manner in which the light is projected upon the decorative screen and upon the walls and ceiling of the room;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the light reflecting and distorting means;

' Fig. 4 is a front elevational View of the light reflecting and distorting means shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 represents a portion of a screen or reflecting surface, illustrating a colored light design which may be produced.

While many features of the apparatus disclosed herein may be employed in various types of apparatus for different purposes, I have chosen to illustrate the invention as applied particularly to an apparatus for decoratively illuminating a portion of a room, such for example as a store, restaurant, caf, etc., and particularly as a means for decoratively illuminating the upper portion of the buffet-like portion back of a bar, as well as the adjacent portions of the ceiling and walls of the room.

As shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, the apparatus of my invention comprises a plurality of horizontal l5 disks ID to 26 inclusive, each mounted upon a vertical spindle 28, the spindles being suitably journaled in bearings 30 mounted upon a support 32. A pulley 34 is secured to each of the spindles 28 and the disks ID to 26 inclusive rotated by means of a belt 36 which passes upon alternate sides of the pulleys 34 and over suitable guiding pulleys 38 and driving pulley 40. The pulley 40 is connected to a large pulley 42 which is driven through a belt 44 from a smaller pulley 46. The pulley 46 is carried at the driven end of a suitable speed reduction gearing contained in the housing 50. The driven shaft of the gear reduction mechanism is connected by means of a flexible coupling 52 with the armature shaft of a motor 54. Through the speed reduction afforded by the speed reduction gearing contained in the housing 50 and by the pulleys 46, 42, 40, the belt 36 is driven at relatively slow speed. As a consequence, the disks Ill-26 inclusive are very slowly rotated at speeds determined by the sizes of their respective pulleys 34, a speed in the order of /6 to 4 revolutions per minute being satisfactory, although the speed of the revolutions is not in any sense critical. It is, 40 however, desirable to avoid having the disks Ill-26 rotated so rapidly that the images will move so fast as to make them disturbing or uncomfortable to observe. Any other simple and suitable means may be provided to drive the disks Ill-26.

A plurality of lamps 56, preferably of the unfrosted type, are suitably mounted within reflectors 58, G0, 62, 64, respectively, these reflectors being supported by a pipe 66 carried on standards 68, the pipe 66 also forming an electrical conduit for the current supply wires 10. The reflectors 58-64 illustrated in the drawings are representative of any suitable number of light sources which it may be desirable to employ, and, in a similar manner, the disks Ill-26 are likewise merely representative of any suitable number which may be found desirable for a particular installation.

Suitably mounted upon the disks Ill-26 are reflectors l2-Illil. As will be apparent from Figs. 2 and 3, these reflectors are of various shapes and conformations, but generally speaking, they have the common feature of having at least one generally spherically concave, parabolically concave, or cylindrically concave surface of highly reflecting character. The surfaces may be of mirrored glass or may be merely highly polished plated metallic surfaces, such as is provided by chromium plated steel. The reflectors I2Il0 may have one reflecting surface as indicated by the reflector 86, or may have a plurality of reflecting surfaces as illustrated by the reflector 83 which is of the general shape of a fluted cone.

Suitable color filters It2IIll, each mounted upon a spindle I I2 and driven by a pulley I I4 engaged by the belt 35, are provided to intercept the beams of light from the light sources and cause the projected image to assume beautiful variegated colors. These color filters are preferably made of glass or similar transparent maerial having colored shellac applied thereto in a generally irregular variegated pattern, each disk preferably carrying a wide range of different colors. In addition to the horizontal color filters Ifl2-I Ii], a plurality of vertical color filters H5, H8 may be provided, these disks being mounted for rotation upon shafts I20 carried by a bracket I22 which is secured to the pipe 66. The disks H5, H8 rest upon the horizontal disks I2 and 23, respectively, and are thus slowly rotated by the latter.

In addition, pattern forming disks I24, I26 may be mounted upon the shafts I20 adjacent the color filter disks H6, H8 so as to provide a varying pattern grill through which some of the beams of light pass in their path from the sources to the screen, which is herein illustrated as a frosted glass I23 carried in a frame I33 and projecting obliquely upwardly from the buffet portion I32 of the bar. The disks I20, I26 preferably have their patterns formed by an opaque shellac marked upon a glass or other translucent disk, but may, if desired, be formed by means of reticulations in an opaque disk. Since the disks i 24 and I26 engage the surfaces of their respective driving disks I2 and 20 at points nearer the centers of the latter than the points of engagement of the disks IIS, H8, the pattern disks I2 3, i2fi will rotate at a slower speed than the color filter disks H6, H8. Thus, even though these pairs of disks are concentrically mounted, they nevertheless serve as a means for causing the light beams to be broken up into a continuously varying set of patterns of continuously varying color.

The reflectors 58, BI], 62, 64 are provided with generally downwardly directed openings so that the illumination from the lamps contained therein will be directed downwardly and sidewardly from the lamps, through the color filters and pattern disks in a relatively wide are so that one light source may serve for the illumination of a plurality of the rotating'disks III-26, with the result that a large portion of the light produced by the lamps will be projected against the screen I28 and against the ceiling and walls of the room in which the installation is made, without the necessity of using lamps of very high wattage.

In operation, the circuit to the lamps 5G is closed and the motor 54 energized. The motor 54, through the reduction gearing and speed reducing pulley arrangement, will continually rotate not only the disks Ill-26, but also the color screen disks IIG, H3 and Iil2-I00, as well as the pattern disks I24, I26.

From the above, it will be understood as the various disks are rotated, preferably at different speeds, the beams of light from the various lamps contained in the reflectors 5S-64 will be caused to pass through one or more color filters and then be reflected by one or more of the reflectors l2-I9il, and from these reflectors, the light will be reflected against the translucent screen I23 and against the ceiling and walls of the room in which the apparatus is installed.

The reflectors IL-409 may, if desired, be per manently secured to the disks I046, may merely rest thereon so as to be readily shiftable and movable, or may be removably secured thereto, as by a dowel pin projecting through a suitable aperture in the disks I0-26 upon which the reflector is mounted.

To obtain the most magnificently beautiful effects, it is desirable that many of the reflecting surfaces of the reflectors T2I8Il be either spherically concave or cylindrically concave so that a distorted image of the filament of the light source will be projected upon the screen I28 and upon the adjacent surfaces of the ceiling and walls of the room. By thus distorting the image of the filament, the patterns of colored illumination formed are of strikingly novel, picturesque, and artistic effect, producing the illusion of ethereal, ecstatically beautiful growing and waning and continuously blending and merging images. variety of the effects produced is enhanced by the pattern disks I24, I26 which break up the filamentary images into variegated continuously changing designs which coalesce and separate as the disks rotate.

The patches of color illustrated in Figs. 1, and 5 represent rather ineffectually the general type of colored filament images which may be produced. The illustrations cannot, however, show how the various colored patterns merge and blend and how the light intensities vary between different portions of the same image and between different images.

While it is impossible to describe in words the extreme vividness, variety, and beauty of the color and pattern combinations and movements obtained, it will be understood that the patterns seldom, if ever, repeat, because of the innumerable variable factors involved, due to the different speeds at which the disks IG-26, as well as the color filters I02! IQ, are driven.

If desired, a suitable rheostat means or other current controlling device may be employed to vary the intensity of the illumination of the lamps 56, thus further varying the composite effect of the illuminated color patterns formed by the apparatus.

In some installations it may be desirable to have the lamps in electrical circuit separate from that of the motor and to have the color filter disks driven from a separate motor, or from the same motor by means of a suitable clutching mechanism. With this type of installation, the color filters and the disks carrying the reflectors could be held stationary opening a suitable,

remote switch, or the reflector carrying disks could be rotated while the color disks were held stationary, or vice versa. In this way, the variety of the effects which could be produced would be multiplied and the decorative eflects;

The .17.

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enhanced. By means of the remote control switches, the driving motors and lights could be rendered periodically inoperative and operative so as to keep tempo with music being simultaneously played. Other interesting effects could likewise be obtained in an installation of this character having the remote control switches. In a similar manner the light intercepting disks having the grill-like openings could be operated by a separate motor controlled by a remote switch and thereby add another Variable to the artistic effects obtainable.

While I have shown and described a particular form of my'invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that it may be employed in various modified forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow. I therefore do not wish to have the claims limited to the particular form shown, but to include within their scope all similar types of apparatus in which substantially the same results are secured by substantially the same means.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

I. In a decorative lighting apparatus, the combination of a plurality of movable elements, a plurality of reflectors carried by said elements, each of said reflectors having at least one generally spherically concave reflecting surface, means to move said elements at different speeds, a plurality of filamentary light sources, a plurality of color screens, and means to project light from said sources toward said reflectors through said color screens, and a screen upon which the reflections from said reflectors may be projected.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality of reflectors each having at least one generally concave reflecting surface, means for revolving said reflectors at different speeds about axes external thereto, means including a filamentary light source for projecting a beam of light of changing color against said reflectors, and a screen against which the reflections from said reflectors may be projected.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality of disks, means for slowly rotating said disks, light reflectors carried by said disks, a plurality of movable color screens adjacent said disks, a plurality of filamentary sources of light located in positions to illuminate said reflectors by light passing through said color filters, and a screen upon which the light reflected from said reflectors may be projected.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality of relatively movable reflectors, each having at least one concave reflecting surface, movable substantially non-diffusing color filters having portions thereof of different color transmitting characteristics, a filamentary source of light for illuminating said reflectors by means of beams of light passing through said color filters, and a screen for receiving the reflections from said reflectors.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality of disks, means for slowly rotating said disks at different speeds, members having mirror surfaces and carried by said disks, a plurality of movable color screens adjacent said disks, a plurality of filamentary sources of light located in positions to illuminate said reflectors by light passing through said color filters, and means to receive and diffuse the colored beams of light projected from said reflectors.

6. In a decorative lighting apparatus, the combination of a plurality of rotatable members, means for rotating said members at different speeds, reflectors carried by said members, a movable substantially non-diffusing color filter,

a moving apertured opaque light interceptor, filamentary light sources to project beams of light through said color filter and through apertures in said interceptor against one of said reflectors,

and a screen against which images reflected from disks, means for rotating said disks, light reflectors carried by each of said disks, a lesser number of filamentary spaced apart light sources located above said disks, and reflectors associated with said light sources to direct light from each through said color screens to a plurality of said disks.

MAURICE WETZEL. 

